a book to read, and a place to read it
Quote from start of this Thread: "....To be able to sit back in that comfortable chair by the fire while enjoying a favorite beverage and become lost in a different place in a different time within the pages of a book is such a pleasure after a long day. I do it almost every day...." -- D. R.
So, part of the experience, other than selecting a good title, is providing the right atmosphere for reading it. A carpenter friend of mine cites a house he built for a client in a fashionable Northeast area, costing several million dollars. It was, as he reported, "all glass"; "there wasn't a cozy corner in the entire house" ; "you couldn't read a book". (Apologies to those who like or live in Frank Lloyd-type houses -- and are Ok with reading a book in them.)
My friend's reactions reminded me of what I saw when returning to a New England college a few years back. The library interior reflected a new-style of institutional remodeling. It no longer had any cozy corners; the wing-back chairs were all gone; even the displays of collections had been removed. It looked like a records storage facility or laboratory.
So, I sought some explanatory insights from a good "local knowledge" source -- one of the college Buildings and Grounds employees (often a good alternative to an academician). He told me that the current practice was to get people in and out of the library quickly -- no reading or study encouraged there; just get what was needed for study or research and take it elsewhere.
As for recommended titles, don't overlook the works of Jim Corbett, slayer of man-eating Tigers and Leopards. A boxed set of his writings -- hunting for sport, meat and guiding and his life in rural India under the Raj -- can now be obtained.
And, if drawn-in enough by the Corbett mystique, you can follow up with the biographies:
JIM CORBETT OF KUMAON, by D. C. Kala
CARPET SAHIB --A life of Jim Corbett, by Martin Booth
GENTLEMAN HUNTER, by Peter Byrne, the one biographer of unique authority, as he was once a professional guide for big cat sport hunters in India
BEHIND THE JIM CORBETT STORIES -- an Analytical Journey to 'Corbett Places' and Unanswered Questions, written by a squad of enthusiasts of varying nationalities, professions and advanced degrees, re-tracing Corbett's footsteps and debating the saga's lingering discrepancies.
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02-07-2017, 01:56 PM
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